Across the Stars
by AvatarHufflepuff
Summary: Spin-off of Star Crossed. Various Hansla oneshots taking place at various points before and well after their engagement in the original story. Rating will fluctuate, oneshots will be in no particular order. AU.
1. The Tournament

**Note**: So here's the Star Crossed spin-off. These oneshots will take place either between the the last two chapters of Star Crossed (since there is a sizable gap there) or after the last chapter. I'll mark at the beginning of each chapter telling you where in the timeline it takes place (either "until the engagement" or "after the engagement"). This is the first prompt from a (not so anonymous) anon on tumblr.

_3 months until the engagement_

Tournaments were archaic. No one had held a serious tournament since the fifteen hundreds and yet every year all of Arendelle and many neighboring kingdoms gathered together to throw on armor and knock each other of horses with sticks to celebrate the Autumn Culture Festival. Originally the festival would be a show of Viking ancestry but the more Arendelle's royal family married into neighboring kingdoms, the more European their heritage became.

Thus, jousting, archery, and sword melee became the highlight of the festival. And now Elsa, like her father before her, had to preside over the tournament. And it was going to be torture.

"You should give it a chance," Anna said.

"I never liked it as a child and I don't appreciate it any more now," Elsa said.

They were at lunch the day before the tournament, outside the castle walls a jousting field had been erected, off to the side was a melee pit, farther down still was an archery range, and beyond that were vendor tents for food and crafts.

"You barely ever went to the tournament as a child," Anna said, taking a sip of tea.

"I could see them from my room, they looked just as pointless from there," Elsa said.

"I think what has you bothered," Anna said, putting down her teacup, "is that a certain prince entered the lists."

Elsa began tapping her fingers on the wood of the table rather violently. Hans entered the lists without telling her, not that he needed her permission and she attempted to use the fact that she was the monarch in question presiding over the tournament and needed to know the entries, however he countered most vehemently that she didn't give a hard time to any other entry. She then informed him that he could sleep in his guest room that night and since he'd not spent a night in her bed once.

"You made him a Knight of Arendelle," Anna said, "There's nothing you can do to stop him—well I mean you can because you're the queen but it would look pretty awkward and he'd get angry and then you'd get angry and nobody wants that and—look it's just one day, let it be."

"Would you let it be if Kristoff entered the lists?" Elsa said sharply.

"He wouldn't enter the lists because he's never fought a day in his life. Hans attended this tournament, I'll remind you, when he was sixteen. He's done it before," Anna said.

"A few tilts eight years ago is little preparation," Elsa said, "In all honesty I'd do away with this whole thing completely. No one has properly jousted since the time of Charles I. And it's all very English anyway, we'd do better to go back to the embracing our local heritage," Elsa said.

"Well, next year you can change it but considering the tournament is tomorrow you're going to have to grin and bear and try not to freeze any of Hans's body parts before then," she said.

Once again that night Hans slept in his room in the guest wing. Both Gerda and Kai had taken notice but chose not to say a word. Elsa would not admit aloud what everyone already knew: she was nervous for Hans. He's fully recovered weeks ago from his surgery after the debacle at the gallows but she imagined all the ways she would watch him knocked from his horse or worse. People died in tournaments before, wayward splinters from broken lances or perhaps an unfortunate angle on a fall from a horse. She was petrified of the idea that she might watch him get seriously injured tomorrow.

So, she stayed mad at him all night and into the next morning.

* * *

There was a variable thrown into all of this that Elsa should have seen coming but completely forgot about in the wake of her arguments with Hans. And that variable was Elsa's longtime suitors. They took advantage of any ball or festival Arendelle threw in order to get as close as possible to Elsa and even Anna when Elsa was inaccessible. And she should have guessed today would be no different.

"Your Majesty," said a very familiar voice.

Prince Gustaf of Sweden had attempted at Elsa's hand since they were twelve. They'd met a few times, talked for half a minute, each time he tried harder and harder to woo her. And with Hans lingering off to the side with the other courtiers, she knew things went from bad to worse.

"Your Highness," she curtsied, hoping he'd leave it at that. But of course not…

"You are more beautiful now as queen," he said, taking her hand and placing a very lingering kiss on it. He quirked an eyebrow at her when he rose back up and she could practically see the steam coming out of Hans ears across the way.

Anna, for her part, made her way casually to Hans and placed a hand on his arm, whispering something to him in attempt to keep him from starting a fistfight in Elsa's throne room.

"I do hope Your Majesty can find time for me once again, I miss our meetings when we were children," he said.

Elsa fought the urge to roll her eyes completely. As children they hardly ever said more than a sentence or two to each other. And Elsa had a sneaking suspicious that the Swedish prince was unaware she was officially being courted by someone else. She stole a glance at her significant other to see him glaring at the back of the prince's head, perhaps hoping the longer he stared the more likely it would be that knifes would simply shoot into his head.

_Perfect…_

Hans spent the beginning of the morning in the sword melee which Elsa presided over for a time. He moved well with a sword, better than nearly all his opponents until his last match where he was knocked to the ground and forced to yield, earning him second place.

He and the first place winner both removed their helmets and bowed before the queen's podium. His hair was sweaty and mussed all over the place, his face was smudged in places with grime where it was not covered in sweat. She couldn't help but find the sight of him sweaty and in armor quite attractive…but no, she was mad at him. Mad.

A few jousts went through before Hans' first tilt and seeing them did a bit to help Elsa's nerves. Nothing looked particularly too violent today. There had yet to be any unhorsings, plenty of broken lances, but no major injuries.

Then came Hans.

He trotted up to the royal podium and extended his lance. _Oh he would…_He truly had the audacity to ask for her favor after a week of arguments and cold shoulders. She was very tempted to not oblige him and make him look like a fool but at the same time she wanted Gustaf off of her back and aware that she was, no matter how angry, very much spoken for.

So she stepped forward and tied a handkerchief around the end of his lance and only gave him a polite nod before he trotted off back to his side of the field.

"So…" Kristoff said when Elsa returned to her seat, "You and Hans have never looked more in love before…"

Anna smacked his arm and Elsa stared hard at the field waiting for the flag to go up. And when it did and Hans and his opponent met, she was relieved to see shattered lances but no one unhorsed.

And it continued this way for numerous tilts. Hans made it through three matches unhinged and he was doing well enough to the point where Elsa was actually beginning to root for him. Silently of course. Anna was not so silent."Come on Hans!" Anna called out loudly, forgetting decorum a few times.

"Come on Hans!" Anna yelled a few times.

Then came a very dreadful matchup. Gustaf and Hans, tilting against each other. It would be dramatic if nothing else, if not for the fact that Gustaf was giving Hans vicious death glares before he slipped his helmet over his head. Hans, for his part, was unfazed but looked just as angry when he flipped his face shield down and took hold of his lance.

The crowd itself seemed to be in on the personal drama, those who had seen both Gustaf's show in the throne room and Hans request for the queen's favor, which still clung tight to his lance, dirty and torn as it was, were deathly quiet and the place seemed to be on edge the second the flag went up.

And the two men pounded towards each other. The speed was incredibly fast and both their lances were up quickly. They'd strike each other hard, at the same time but…it was miniscule, and if you blinked you'd miss it, but Elsa saw completely at the last second Gustaf pulled his lance arm back before thrusting it forward…right into Hans' chest.

And Hans went flying.

His lance only bounced off Gustaf as he was unhorsed in a violently flurry of splinters. He hit the ground in a hard crash of metal and the sound of breaking wood as he landed on his lance, cracking it beneath him. He tumbled a bit at the momentum before he finally stopped moving and simply lay on the ground, clutching at his shoulder.

Elsa had stood at some point because when the world returned to normal speed she was on her feet and much of the stadium that was not looking at Hans was looking at her. Anna got to her feet as well and quickly walked over to Elsa, clutching at her arm. Hans continued to groan on the ground, struggling to get his helmet off all the while Gustaf's helmet popped off to a very smug face.

It took every single ounce of her willpower not to run onto the field where he lay. The pages and squires nearby were rushing on the field, gathering around the fallen knight to aid him. His helmet came off to reveal a face locked in a tight grimace and when they lifted him, she saw why.

A sizable piece of wood was lodged into his upper shoulder, incredibly close to where the arrow had once pierced him. Elsa felt her blood curdle and her stomach turn and suddenly Anna was tugging at her arm.

"Elsa, calm down," Anna said, nodding up.

Above them the sun had disappeared and grey clouds had rolled in, the temperature of the area had dropped significantly and a few wayward snowflakes even fell. Elsa took a breath squeezed her hands, banishing the would-be storm.

She marched off in a flurry of staffers jumping to their feet when she passed and people bowing their heads. Anna remained behind with Kristoff to oversee the rest of the precedings.

She walked with a vicious purpose to the infirmary tent. Once inside she wasn't sure what she planned on doing. Yelling, smacking him, ordering Gustaf out of her kingdom and then smacking Hans, telling him "I told you so", many things, mostly childish, came to her mind.

She threw open the tent flaps and stepped in. The physician jumped to his feet.

"Majesty! This is no place to be now," he said.

"What are the prince's injuries?" she asked, ignoring him.

"The puncture did not go as deep as it seemed, the armor was rather good. He did receive a rather sizable blow that caused a diaphragm spasm, which he is still recovering from," the physician explained over the sound of Hans wheezing, "All in all it's not nearly as bad as it could have been."

"Very well, I will attend to him from here," Elsa said and when the physician seemed ready to argue she continued, "You'll remember it was you yourself who trained both my sister and I in first aid to volunteer with wounded soldiers, I can manage this."

The physician looked reluctant but he was not about to continue an argument with her. He exited the room in a bow, leaving Elsa alone with Hans.

"What were you thinking?" she hissed, walking over to his bedside and staking a seat.

"I get knocked off my horse by a bastard with a tipped lance, and you're scolding _me_?" Hans groaned. Ah, so he did tip the lance after all. She'd deal with that latter.

"I told you not to do this," Elsa said, dipping a cloth into warm water, "It's archaic and barbaric and now this happened," Elsa said.

She very gently placed the rag over the wound and watched him reflexively sit up. Her other hand pressed to his chest and pushed him back down. She then took that hand to his far cheek and turned his face to hers.

"I asked you not to," she said.

"I'm a minor prince courting a queen for God's sake, what kind of man would I be if I didn't enter the tournament?" he mumbled.

"The kind who knows he doesn't have to impress me. The kind of man who knows I'd rather spend hours wrapped in his arms in front of the library fireplace than watch him fight battles or running at other men with sticks on horses," Elsa said, "The kind of man I know you already are."

She removed the rag, now dyed red and submerged in the water again before pressing it to him once more.

"I saw the way he looked at you," Hans said, "All that desire on his face wasn't for your charming personality."

"No one thought it was, I've been dealing with his advances since I was a teenager."

"He was being disrespectful to you," he said, "And he was mocking me."

She rolled her eyes. Men and pride.

"There are other ways to mark your territory," she said, shoving the rag roughly back in the water and leaving it there.

"You're not my territory."

"No? Then what was that show you two just had on the field? It certainly wasn't _lance_ length you were comparing."

He turned as red as she felt upon hearing her remark. She meant it though. It was embarrassing, the entire kingdom had filed out to watch two men fight over her in a very obvious way. And now she would not only have to deal with a pouting Southern prince but also a very angry Swedish dynast, whose support, and trade, she desperately needed for the economy.

"There will always be other men," Elsa said, drying off his wound, "There will always be men who ask to dance with me and I have to say yes, there will always be men who want to dine with me and I have to say yes. They'll kiss my hand, they'll compliment me, maybe they'll even try to whisper things in my ear. And your job is to do absolutely nothing about it."

He was frowning, staring down at his feet. She once again turned his face to hers.

"I chose you, I still choose you and I always will," she whispered. "Please just put your ego aside and let this be enough." And then she kissed him, it was light at first but turned more passionate the more it went on. The tugging on lips and slight nips of teeth increased. She felt his sweaty hair underneath her curling fingers at the base of his neck. She felt his own calloused hands stroking against her scalp. "You are the only one," she whispered against his lips, "Who gets to do that."

She then kissed his forehead and pulled away to retrieve the suture. She watched him wince in pain as she made the first tie through with the needle, pulling his wound closed. Below it, she saw the scar of the arrow, not unlike the one she had herself on her arm. After all those scars and wounds and tears they'd endured that summer he still was waiting for the day she'd run off and leave him.

And perhaps he did have a point, she knew Anna had similar feelings. Elsa, to them, would always be a wildcard and flight risk so they held to her as tightly as they could. She could oblige them that much she supposed, every now and again. But one thing was first certain. She was decidedly done with tournaments.


	2. In Love, In Laws

**Note**:Sorry about the delay. This chapter is the result of A) me wanting to expand on a drabble request I did on tumblr about Elsa meeting Hans' family and B) because having sex in someone's bed without telling them is the best revenge.

_2 months after the engagement _

"I don't understand your obsession with this," Hans growled, walking down the hall.

"It's not an obsession it's a courtesy," Elsa shot back.

"There is no reason to be courteous to my brothers who never once were even a fraction of kind to me."

Elsa had no remaining family alive-well immediate family-that Hans had yet to meet. So, she had been eager to meet his, even with the stories she'd heard about them. She'd done her research, looking at the family history of the current dynasty, memorizing the names of everyone. Maximilian, Klaus, and Albrect were the three eldest brothers and the child of their father's first marriage. Then came Kurt, the twins Frederick and Ferdinand, Rupert and then Heinrich all from his second marriage. The third marriage was Karl and Otto then the fourth marriage was Leopold and Franz. And then finally, Hans alone was the product of his fifth and final marriage before his father's death.

"Hans they are your family," Elsa said. "The only family you'll have. They have a right to know you're engaged, and I have a right to meet them."

"_You_ are my family. Anna is my family. They're just the people who raised me," he said. "And they barely even did that."

"Well in consideration of the fact that you will not get to meet the people who raised me, perhaps you will allow me this one curtsey," Elsa said coldly.

He frowned.

"That's not fair," he said.

"No, it isn't fair that the family I loved is gone and the family you hate is still around but we make do with what we're given," Elsa said. "I'll go by myself if you wish to stay here. A diplomatic trip about trade agreements and I'll casually let them know I'm engaged to their brother."

He growled and frustration started pacing back and forth in the hall, occasionally rubbing his eyes aggressively. She knew he hated them, she didn't want to put him in a situation of discomfort but the way he flat out and completely refused to go with little explanation set her off.

"You can't just make decisions for the both of us," Hans said, "Marriage is about discussing these things."

"And here we are, discussing them," Elsa said.

"Do you mind discussing them somewhere else?" came Anna's familiar voice from behind her slightly open door. Groggy-eyed, and looking ridiculous with bedhead, Anna stood rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Anna," Elsa said.

"Not that it's any of my business—"

"Then don't comment," Hans said. Anna shot him and scowl.

"—But I think Elsa's right," Anna said, "Whatever else they are, they're still your brothers and especially your mother Hans. If not for their sake, at least let Elsa meet them for her. She has a right after all."

"Naturally, you'd take her side," Hans groaned.

"Naturally."

* * *

In the end, Elsa won and Hans was dragged on the boat along with her. The trip was quiet, and despite Hans attempts, Elsa refused him several times when he suggested they move past their argument and make up in an…intimate way. She was actually more concerned with the crewmen overhearing them than she was with her still lingering annoyance. But when they eventually did "make up" at least she'd have the advantage over him.

The Southern Isles were small, as Hans had described, a series of islands in a chain, volcanic in creation. The center island, and the largest, served as the capital city of the principality. It was smaller than Arendelle and contained a more European castle than her own back home.

"Home," he groaned as he straightened his jacket.

Elsa stepped behind him and straightened the tails of the coat.

"Your home is in Arendelle," she assured him, "This is a necessary evil."

"Necessary is not the word I would use," he said.

She stepped in front of him and squeezed his shoulders before kissing his cheek.

"You took two arrows for me once, this is nothing in comparison," Elsa whispered, "Please."

He frowned but leaned forward to kiss her hairline, lingering a moment to smell her hair before backing away. Elsa took his arm and they formally exited the room to disembark.

No one had gathered to see the prince's arrival and Elsa groaned to think if they'd known the queen was coming with him half the kingdom and the royal family would have gathered. But for only the youngest prince, an envoy from the castle who looked bored to tears.

"Your Highness," the envoy bowed his head and eyed Elsa. "We were not expecting a guest."

He sounded more intrigued than annoyed but Elsa remained silent. And when it became clear to him she was not going to announce herself, he simply sighed and lead the pair to a horse.

"Had I known you were bringing a visitor Your Highness I would have arranged for two horses—"

"It's fine," Hans said curtly, stepping around him.

Elsa stepped forward and Hans quickly helped lift her onto the horse, sitting sidesaddle while he hoisted himself up, swinging one leg over the other side. He arms went around her to grip the reins.

"I know the way from here," he said and kicked his horse forward without further ceremony.

At a light trot through the town Elsa took in the sights. It was less busy, smaller, and far more humble than Arendelle. The people seemed friendly enough though, smiling at her as they went by, curtseying to them and even bidding a few hellos. Hans spent the whole ride frowning, however, his jaw tightly set, looking straight ahead the entire time.

* * *

"Dearest baby brother!" Maximilian called, rising from his seat in the throne room, "When you said you were returning home you didn't tell me it was with a woman."

This brother immediately rubbed her the wrong way. And as soon as the others filed into the room, they all followed suit, remarking at how Hans had been able to "snag" or "catch" such a beautiful woman. It was only after Franz referred to her as "his woman" that she finally spoke up.

"Gentlemen," she said, "I do not think we've been properly introduced. I am Elsa Catherine Alix Sophia of Arendelle." She spewed out each of her names and watched the brothers turn paler and paler.

"Queen Elsa…" Kurt's mouth dropped open.

"Your Majesty," Maximilian said before bowing his head and the others followed suit.

The shock was followed by a number of scowls and frowns from nearly every brother, directly mostly at Hans. Their playful—and offensive—banter had turned sour quickly and they seemed to be nearly angry with him.

"I'll have rooms prepared for you two," Maximilian said and Elsa nearly commented that two separate rooms would not be necessary but quickly bit her tongue and followed when a staffer appeared and lead her to her own room.

Elsa had been correct in her assessment that Hans' brothers were off put because the room she was situated in, while nice, was on the complete opposite wing from Hans. Elsa mumbled under her breath during her long walk across the castle to Hans' quarters.

"What in the world is going on?" Elsa asked upon entering Hans' room, without knocking.

"I told you, we shouldn't have come," Hans said, pulling clothes out of his trunk.

"The second they saw me, they got angry and now I've been shoved halfway across the castle," Elsa said.

"This is exactly why I said we shouldn't—"

"No," Elsa cut him off, "You don't get to act high and mighty and tell me you told me so without telling me what's going on, because you clearly are very aware."

Hans opened her mouth to say something but they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hans, it's me," came an elderly female voice that could only belong to his mother. Hans called for her to come in and her face, much like his brother's, shifted upon seeing Elsa in the room.

"Ah, Your Majesty," she said, "I thought you might be in your room in the East Wing."

"I was, now I am here, speaking to my fiancée."

The woman had not spoken to Elsa unkindly but still, she felt the need to be curt with her. The way Hans' family was acting, the way she knew he knew why and wouldn't tell her, all agitated her like nothing else.

"Yes of course…Actually Your Majesty being here is actually quite efficient, I was hoping I might speak with you myself before dinner. It's not every day my son is engaged," she said.

Elsa turned to Hans who nodded with a sigh. He kissed her forehead and squeezed her hand. "I'll see you at dinner."

The older woman lead her out onto the walls of the castle, facing the ocean where she knew somewhere across the sea was her castle in Arendelle, warm and bright where people were kind and no one kept secrets—anymore.

"I hope you're finding our home to your liking Majesty. I know it is not the busiest or biggest capital in the world, nor is the kingdom revered but it is home," she said.

"You're from here," Elsa said.

"Yes. My father was a bannerman to the Sovereign Prince, Hans father," she said, "This country doesn't have the luxury of outside marriages to the powerful countries your own ancestry traces back to. The princes have always settled for local nobility."

Elsa recalled Hans explaining this to her once before.

"Which is actually what I wanted to discuss with you…" she said, stopping their walk to look out at the ocean. "I'm not sure if you're aware as much of it was going on when you were only a young girl, however your father was in talks with my late husband at the time…they were in the process of signing a marriage contract."

Elsa frowned. "Go on."

"While the contract was not signed by your father before he died, my husband—and his many sons—considered it as good as a guarantee that you would be promised to one of the boys. Leopold was specifically singled out due to the close age."

Elsa could feel the temperature dropping around her and struggled with balled fists to prevent snow flurries from falling above. As irritated as she was with the prospect that her father had attempted to sign her life away without her consent (quite possibly before the incident with her powers occurred) she was even more infuriated at the presumption of Hans' brothers and mother.

"You'll notice, I am already engaged," Elsa said, her left hand ring finger twitching.

"Yes well…the boys were all quite…irritated to find their youngest brother sporting you on his arm, considering—"

"No one is sporting me anywhere my lady," Elsa said carefully, "After months of courting, when he asked me to marry him I said yes, as I am in fact a free woman to do so."

"I'm not trying to upset you," she said hastily, "It's just that, we had hoped with Arendelle's renewed policy and open gates that you might—"

"Break off my engagement?"

"We had no idea you two were engaged. Leopold and myself were planning a trip north to speak with you on the matter in a month or so—"

"You are speaking to me about it now and the answer is no."

"Then perhaps your sister—"

"Is spoken for."

Elsa promised Anna when they were young she would save her from the horrors of an arranged marriage. Her father had made a similar promise though it was clear now he meant to break it, Elsa would not force anything upon Anna, especially not for the sake of a bratty prince.

"I was not aware your sister was engaged," she mumbled.

"She isn't, though I imagine she will be soon," Elsa said.

"Oh…do I know of him?"

"He's an orphaned ice harvester from my own kingdom, so it is highly unlikely."

Elsa wanted it to sting. She wanted Hans' mother to know that twelve petty princes had lost a princess to a peasant. A wandering orphan mountain man was worth more than all these men combined. And she always wanted her to know that Elsa had chosen a lowly last born son to be her prince consort.

"I did not mean to offend you," she said, taking the hint.

"Why are you so adamant on me marrying another woman's son, above your own?" Elsa said.

"I love many of them as if they were my own son, I raised many of the younger ones who were only young boys when their mother died," she said. "I want them all to be happy. You must believe me, I'm thrilled to death to see Hans so happy but I could not sleep at night if I did not at least try to see Leopold happy as well. He's spent his entire life believing you would one day be his wife."

"Hans is happy," Elsa said like a warning. "I am the queen now, this contract, if it ever existed in physical form is revoked and will be destroyed upon my return."

* * *

After a very tense dinner, complete with Leopold "accidently" dumping stew onto Hans lap and Maximilian doing nothing but hiding a snigger, Elsa excused herself early and shot Hans a look to follow.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Elsa said when they returned to his room. "You knew, this entire time we were together. Don't you think after getting engaged you should warn me that one of your brothers was under the impression he was going to marry me?"

"I didn't—when it was clear you didn't know I wasn't going to be the one to tell you," Hans said, pulling off his pants leaving only his undergarments while he fetched a clean pair. On the way his dirtied shirt flew off as well in a huff.

"Why?" Elsa said.

"Because he wouldn't—he didn't—I didn't want…"

"Hans," she growled.

He let out sigh and a pout and shoved a clean pair of trousers on as he sat down on the windowsill. They had not even bothered to turn the gas lamps on in their mutual agitation so the moonlight alone lit the room. Hans rested his head against the stone.

"I was sent as representative to your coronation to sort of…gauge the situation," Hans said, "Your father hadn't contacted us in a very long time and when he died you made no attempt to do so either so when we received an invitation for the ceremony Max thought it best I go to see what was going on, before they proceeded with officially courting you.

"I came up to you that night on the balcony for that reason," Hans admitted. He must have known it would sting her because he looked at her with equal amounts guilt and pity. Elsa, for her part, dropped down to sit next to him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Why didn't you pass me along to your brother then? You had weeks before we actually started…seeing each other, if you will" she said, "And why, _why_ didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't at all what I thought you would be," he said, "I built you up in my head to be just like them. Arrogant, an heir apparent who got everything she wanted her entire life. And the second you opened your mouth I realized you weren't like them at all," he insisted, "So I started talking to you for myself, just because I wanted to, because I liked talking to you and I liked hearing you talk."

"And then?"

He moved from his perch to kneel in front of her.

"I realized Leopold would get to kiss you and he wouldn't care if it was perfect or not. He'd hug you and not bother to make sure he'd held you long enough, at night he'd carelessly turn away from you in bed and not bother to hold you tight all night until nightmares receded," he said, "And the idea that he, or any man, would take you so carelessly, wouldn't bother to treasure and worship every second he had with you _burned_ me."

He reached out to brush stray locks of hair from her blushing face as she simply stared at him.

"So I didn't tell you," he said. "Because suddenly you were choosing me and I never wanted to picture you with another man again."

He gently cupped her face and pulled their foreheads together. She rested her hands over his and sighed, nuzzling at his cheek ever so slightly.

"You were my wife long before we met and I've always been your husband," he whispered. "It was simply that I needed to meet you to remind myself."

His thumbs were gently moving over her soft cheek and she sighed into the caress. Her hands traveled down to rest on his bare shoulders.

"I wanted you forever," he whispered, "And always. So that is why I never told you."

Elsa finally broke the tension and kissed him, quickly tugging on is shoulders roughly as his hands cradled her back to dip her to the floor. Their lips moved and teeth pulled and tongues danced. Her hands raked over all the skin he had exposed while his own worshiped the curve of her hips through the fabric of her dress.

"Forever and always," she whispered and he swallowed the words with a rough kiss.

They stayed that way for a long time, lounged on the floor, stroking, and caressing and kissing all the parts they could reach until eventually it became simply laying there together, cradled in each other's arms. Eventually Elsa fell asleep this way until she woke in the early hours of the morning in his bed with a vague memory of being lifted clinging tightly to his shoulders, and placed there by his arms.

* * *

The next day Hans' brothers organized a hunt that he chose, wisely, not to partake in, alone in the wilderness with them did not seem wise. Besides, Elsa had other plans…

"Where are you taking me?" he said, her cool hands covering his eyes as she pushed him down the hallway.

"Shush."

She stopped him outside the door, opened it, and pushed him inside quickly and shut the door, locking it.

"Why are we in Leopold's room?" he said when she bid him open his eyes.

"Because," she said, taking his wrists and pulling him over towards the bed, "This."

She grasped his neck and began kissing him, waiting for him to respond before she deepened the kiss with a turn of her head and a loose tongue. His hands slid down her sides to rest on her hips and she pulled until he got the hint and dipped her back onto the bed.

"Why are we doing this here?" he asked dazed, between kisses.

"Because you'll get the satisfaction of knowing you...fucked me in his bed," she said, blushing despite herself at what she said, "And I'll get the satisfaction of knowing I fucked you in his bed."

He kissed away her blush and began removing clothes as they giggled and kissed and caressed, quite sure they'd never be returning here again.


	3. The Best Laid Plans

**Note**: This is the first of three oneshots that follow chronologically and are related. I won't call them a trilogy but the next two will be next two will be directly following this in sequential order.

_5 months after the engagement…_

Elsa and Hans had always tried to be careful. The night of their engagement had opened up a world that was almost entirely ruled by temptation and impulse. Though more often than not, Elsa got control long enough to remind Hans to make sure he "got out", as it were, in time, there were times it simply happened to fast or Elsa was enjoying it to much. And that of course ran a very obvious risk and Elsa blessed every month that she didn't end up pregnant before their wedding.

But sometimes, life has other plans.

She didn't need a physician to tell her, she already knew. She had been late that month and she never was. Now two weeks out there was nothing, and she'd begun to feel odd pangs in her stomach that bordered on nausea. And she had already been craving more food than she should.

Hans had gotten her pregnant—no that was an unfair way to put it. She and Hans had both been careless and now she was pregnant with his child. Five months away from their decided wedding date, she was pregnant. And she was livid and sad and scared all at once and feeling those things alone made her angry. This was her first child, and all she felt at finding out she was pregnant was all anxiety. It shouldn't be this way.

"Have you told him?" Anna said when she came down from the euphoria of becoming an aunt to a little prince or princess.

"Of course I haven't."

Anna knew only hours after Elsa had figured it out. She told her immediately, she had to or she might burst with nervous energy. Anna had squealed and smiled, forgetting the gravity of the situation and all that surrounded a queen with a bastard child.

"Step one, Elsa, is tell him. You shouldn't have to go through all this stress alone when that baby is half his. Share the burden."

It shouldn't be a burden though. Her child, her firstborn child slumbering inside her was a burden. Her son or daughter was causing her massive amounts of pressure and anxiety and that wounded her deeply. Tell me mommy, how did you feel when you found out you were going to have me? The answer should never be _horrified_.

"This is just…a lot to deal with," Elsa said.

A lot to deal with. She spent thirteen years locked behind doors barely keeping an unrelenting torrent of magic at bay while dealing with the pressures of being crown princess and her father's death. But this…this was a lot to deal with.

"That's why you need to tell him."

Well of course she was going to tell him. But she just hadn't expected it to be so soon as Anna practically shoved her out the door and the down the hall, calling Han's name then running off though Elsa was very sure she hadn't gone far. Hans poked his head out of a door a few seconds later.

"Was Anna calling me?" he said.

"Yes," Elsa said, rubbing her eyes roughly and pinching her nose bridge. "But, uh…I was the one who actually needed to talk to you."

He stepped out expectantly and it suddenly registered with Elsa that she was about to tell this man he was a father. His world was about to change completely and forever and if words and rings were not enough, they were forever joined now by the one thing on earth that belonged to them both.

"I'm pregnant."

She said it before he'd even finished crossing the room to her and he stopped a solid eight feet out from her. The shock on his face was not the anxiety-ridden panic that had been her own, but a softer, speechless kind of shock. He quickly paled and she watched him swallow thickly.

"I'm certain," Elsa said, knowing that question was somewhere in his numbed brain.

"I'm the father of your child," Hans whispered and then stared in space as if seeing the words splayed before him. Then he smiled, a huge, wide, mad smile. His eyes turned into gratitude, unwavering, unrelenting, gratitude.

"You're missing the main problem here," Elsa said, looking down at her shuffling feet.

"What problem?" he said, the ray of light across his face was gone as she moved close to her.

"We're not married," Elsa said, "The wedding isn't until September. How am I to hide a pregnancy for five months and then explain how I suddenly had a baby 4 months after the wedding?"

"Why would you want to hide it?' he asked, not only genuinely confused but with a lace of accusation.

"I'm not ashamed, if that's what you think," she said quickly. This was going awful. "It's more…complicated than that."

He looked at her with furrowed brow and sigh, waiting for an explanation.

"Hans this isn't just any child, this is _my_ child, my _firstborn_ child," Elsa said. "This is the future king or queen of my kingdom, the rightful heir to my throne and it's…illegitimate. If my councilors found out they would do everything in their power to stop him or her from assuming the throne when I die."

"You're queen you can name anyone you want your heir—"

"And who is to stop them quietly disposing of my heir because of a weakened claim, thanks to extramarital activities. I will not have my child's birthright stolen by politics," Elsa said.

Something clicked in Hans' brain as he understood. This was his child as well, his child who would be ousted of a throne.

"Then we'll get married, soon," Hans said. "Very soon."

"Hans—"

"No, we can send out invitations tomorrow, we haven't even announced the date yet. We'll get married next month," he said, "We'll say we're just too in love to wait."

Elsa sighed and had to keep from rolling her eyes. Hans' life in the Southern Isles was not rife with political games. It was too small. But here, Elsa knew that alone would not fly.

"My councilors are not stupid. They'll have their suspicions about why were marrying and eight months later they'll have their proof," she said.

"They'll have suspicions yes," Hans corrected, "That's all. Plenty of babies are born a bit early. It'll be perfectly legitimate." He stepped closer and hugged her from behind, placing his hands protectively over her stomach, "And then we can have five more children if you like and everyone will forget the first one was born so soon."

Elsa smiled a bit.

"We're only have six children if you're carrying and delivering half of them," she said, kissing his lips kissing the crown of her head.

"If I could I gladly would," he said. "King's have bastard children all the time and no one says a thing," he mused, "Queen's should have the same amount of respect."

Elsa closed her eyes and simply stayed there, leaning into his chest while his hands rested over her abdomen where a child would be growing soon. His scent surrounded her and his arms were warm and for a second she pushed out of her mind that they were not married, that politicians would be at her throat.

All she thought of was that she was going to be a mother, Hans was going to be a father. Months from now they would have a baby, crying and cooing and sleeping, who was half of them each. Perhaps it would have Hans' hair, Elsa's eyes. Maybe it would have freckles like her own.

But what if…

Eyes like her own, hair like her own, magic like her own. A child born into the world on a howling blizzard, as her own birth had been on that Christmas Eve twenty-two years ago. Another child born with winter itself pumping through its veins, a child who could also never feel cold, never know a chill, but crave warmth with all its being.

Snow, so much snow, and ice.

"Hans," she said before she meant to.

He loosened his grip on her, expecting her to turn and face him and when she didn't, he moved to her front, facing her.

"Elsa, any fear you have I'll make it disappear," he whispered against her hairline as he placed a kiss there.

"Any child I have could…"

To solidify her point she puffed a few snowflakes into the air from an open palm. Hans did not react at all. He looked at her hand and glanced up towards her. He took her palm up to his lips and placed a very warm kiss there, he then curled up her hand and kissed her knuckles, pulling her head to rest against his, her hand between the pair.

"If our child is any bit like you, then it would be a blessing," he whispered.

She decided in that moment she'd rather her child be more like Hans. He was kind, he was gentle, there was storm in there though. He was wiser than he gave himself credit for and much more selfless than any man she knew. Even through his arrogance and tendencies to require attention, he was a Prince Charming, her own.

Hans told her so often how good-hearted she was, how selfless, how brave, how strong. She never repaid him those compliments, until this moment she realized. She'd give him a child, she'd allowed him to be the father of her children. She was telling him how much she loved him with each increase of the swell of her stomach, every time that child kicked, she was telling him how much she thought of him.

"I love you," she whispered fiercely into the air between them.

He nodded in response, holding her tight. She'd given him the ultimate compliment as he had given her the ultimate gift. And in that moment, she knew this is how it felt to find out you were having your first child with the person you loved more than anything. A shared happiness in the fact that there would be physical proof of just how much you loved each other, something that belonged to both of you, something you could hug and kiss and love twenty times a day and it would never be enough.

This was _joy_.


End file.
